Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service (NOS), Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment (CCMA), Biogeography Branch
2011
Processed reflectance surface (3m) derived from airborne LiDAR for St. Thomas and St. John, US Virgin Island collected in 2011
1st
remote-sensing image
Silver Spring, MD
NOAA's National Ocean Service (NOS), National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS)
http://ccma.nos.noaa.gov/products/biogeography/usvi_nps/data/
This image represents a LiDAR (Light Detection & Ranging) 3x3 meter resolution relative seafloor reflectivity surface for an area of shallow seabed surrounding St. Thomas and St. John (STT/STJ)in the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI). The image's horizontal coordinate system is NAD83 UTM 20 North.
Fugro LADS, in collaboration with NOAA's NOS/NCCOS/CCMA Biogeography Branch, the University of New Hampshire and the National Park Service, acquired bathymetry, relative seafloor reflectivity and hyperspectral imagery in STT/STJ on thirteen different sorties from 1/29/2011 to 2/28/2011. Hyperspectral data were acquired using a Hyspex VNIR-1600 sensor. Bathymetry and reflectivity data were acquired using a LADS (Laser Airborne Depth Sounder) Mark II Airborne System from altitudes between 1,200 and 2,200ft at ground speeds between 140 and 210 knots. The 900 Hertz Nd: YAG (neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet) laser (1064 nm) acquired 3x3 meter spot spacing and 200% seabed coverage. In total, 170.8 square kilometers of LiDAR reflectivity were collected between 0 m and 40 m in depth. Environmental factors such as wind strength and direction, cloud cover, water clarity and depth influenced the area of data acquisition on a daily basis. The data was processed using the LADS Mark II Ground System and data visualization, quality control and final products were created using CARIS HIPS and SIPS and CARIS BASE Editor. All users should individually evaluate the suitability of this data according to their own needs and standards.
This LiDAR collection is an important effort in an ongoing NOAA scientific research mission in the US Caribbean to characterize nearshore to deep water coral reef habitats at depths down to 1,000 meters. The mission purpose is to better understand the resources within the surveyed reef habitats, and ultimately develop species utilization models linking physical habitats with biological information. The acquired bathymetry, relative seafloor reflectivity, and hyperspectral imagery will be used internally to characterize sea floor topography and to create benthic habitat maps, helping NOAA meet its mapping commitment to the US Coral Reef Task Force. The resulting publicly-distributed data is also a contribution to the greater scientific community interested in the USVI seafloor.
Vertical_Coordinate_System_Definition:
Depth_System_Definition:
Depth_Datum_Name: MLLW
Depth_Resolution: Unknown
Depth_Distance_Units: meters
Depth_Encoding_Method: Explicit depth coordinate included with horizontal coordinates
20110129
20110228
ground condition
Complete
As needed
-65.068707
-64.636611
18.415293
18.284800
NOS Data Explorer Topic Category
Remotely Sensed Imagery/Photos
CoRIS Discovery Thesaurus
Geographic Information > Backscatter
CoRIS Theme Thesaurus
EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Bathymetry/Seafloor Topography > Backscatter
EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Aquatic Habitat > Reef Habitat > Description
None
USVI
US Virgin Islands
St. Thomas
St. John
Virgin Islands National Park
VINP
Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument
VICRNM
Backscatter
Reflectivity
Intensity
Lidar
LADS Mark II
NOAA
Biogeography
GIS
Habitat
Benthic
NPS
Reef
IOCM
Integrated Ocean and Coastal Mapping
Coral
Seafloor
ISO 19115 Topic Category
elevation
006
environment
007
geoscientificInformation
008
imageryBaseMapsEarthCover
010
oceans
014
None
USVI
US Virgin Islands
St. Thomas
St. John
CoRIS Place Thesaurus
COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > U. S. Virgin Islands > U. S. Virgin Islands > U. S. Virgin Islands (17N064W0000)
OCEAN BASIN > Atlantic Ocean > Caribbean Sea > Virgin Islands > Leeward Islands > St. Thomas (18N064W0033)
OCEAN BASIN > Atlantic Ocean > Caribbean Sea > Virgin Islands > Virgin Islands > St. John (18N064W0011)
COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > U. S. Virgin Islands > St. Thomas > St. Thomas (18N064W0033)
COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > U. S. Virgin Islands > St. John > St. John (18N064W0011)
OCEAN BASIN > Atlantic Ocean > Caribbean Sea > Virgin Islands > Lesser Antilles > U. S. Virgin Islands (17N064W0000)
CoRIS Region
USVI
None
Seafloor
None
2011
Please cite any use of this data.
Note: NOT TO BE USED FOR NAVIGATION. These data were prepared by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, make any warranty, expressed or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed in this report, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference therein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. Any views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof. Although all data have been used by NOAA, no warranty, expressed or implied, is made by NOAA as to the accuracy of the data and/or related materials. The act of distribution shall not constitute any such warranty, and no responsibility is assumed by NOAA in the use of these data or related materials.
Microsoft Windows XP Version 5.1 (Build 2600) Service Pack 3; ESRI ArcCatalog 9.3.1.4000
All users should independently analyze the dataset according to their own needs and standards to determine data usability.
This GeoTIFF is sourced from a gridded dataset. The original full-resolution Lidar data was used to create a downsampled uniform-resolution surface in CARIS.
None.
None.
Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service (NOS), Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment (CCMA), Biogeography Branch
Unpublished material
Raw Lidar Data
digital data
external hard drive
20110129
20110228
ground condition
Raw Lidar Data
Original raw full resolution dataset.
Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service (NOS), Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment (CCMA), Biogeography Branch
Unpublished material
Processed Lidar Data
digital data
external hard drive
201102
201103
ground condition
Processed Lidar Data
Processed, cleaned, and corrected full resolution dataset. Sourced from raw LADS data.
Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service (NOS), Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment (CCMA), Biogeography Branch
Unpublished material
CARIS BASE Surface
raster digital data
external hard drive
201102
201103
ground condition
BASE Surface
Downsampled CARIS BASE (Bathymetry Associated with Statistical Error) grid with best reflectivity layer. Sourced from processed HDCS data.
Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service (NOS), Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment (CCMA), Biogeography Branch
2011
GeoTIFF of 3x3 m Relative Reflectivity for St. Thomas & St. John, 2011, UTM 20N NAD83
raster digital data
external hard drive
201102
201103
ground condition
STT_STJ_Reflect_3m.tif
Downsampled GeoTIFF raster containing relative reflectivity (intensity) values. These values do not have units given the complexity of modeling losses through the water-column and at the water/air interface. Because the dataset is of relative reflectivity rather than an absolute value for each point, the entire dataset is scaled to ensure the full dynamic range is used over the dataset. This scaling is applied over an entire survey area to ensure dataset consistency. Sourced from CARIS BASE surface.
James Guilford and Scott Ramsay from Fugro LADS lead this mapping effort. Hyperspectral data were acquired using a Hyspex VNIR-1600 sensor. Bathymetry and reflectivity data were acquired using a LADS (Laser Airborne Depth Sounder) Mark II Airborne System from altitudes between 1,200 and 2,200ft at ground speeds between 140 and 210 knots. The 900 Hertz Nd: YAG (neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet) laser (1064 nm) acquired 3x3 meter spot spacing and 200% seabed coverage.
Green laser pulses are scanned beneath the aircraft in a rectilinear pattern. The pulses are reflected from the land, sea surface, within the water column and from the seabed. The height of the aircraft is determined by the infrared laser return, which is supplemented by the inertial height from the Attitude and Heading Reference System and GPS height. Real-time positioning is obtained by an Ashtech GG24 GPS receiver combined with Wide Area DGPS (Differential Global Positioning System) provided by the Fugro Omnistar to provide a differentially corrected position. Ashtech Z12 GPS receivers are also provided as part of the Airborne System and Ground Systems to log KGPS (Kinetic Global Positioning System) data on the aircraft and at a locally established GPS (Global Positioning System) base station.
2011
The reflectivity of an LADS pulse is a measure of the amount of energy reflected from the seabed for each individual laser pulse at the wavelength of the laser, 532nm (green/blue). The basic difference between processing an ALB waveform for depth and for reflectivity is that depth processing focuses on the leading edge of the return waveform, whereas reflectivity requires integration of the entire return pulse. Each sounding is assessed for suitability. Dry soundings and soundings in very shallow water are not processed for reflectivity. Each sounding is normalized for the electronic gain applied to the photo multiplier tube to which the received laser energy is optically routed. The gain-normalized return waveform is then analyzed to determine energy returning from the seabed. Integration of the waveform from the seabed will produce a numerical value of reflectivity. To ensure that this value accurately and meaningfully describes variation in seabed reflectivity several parameters must be taken into consideration. Energy is lost from the pulses transmitted from the aircraft. These losses include the air/water interface and those through the water column, and any system specific losses such as optical filtering and receiver field of view. Reflectivity value, calculated for each pulse, is the ratio between the received energy normalized for the losses described and the transmitted energy. Once a relative reflectivity value has been calculated, further statistical cleaning to remove outliers is completed. Because the dataset is of relative reflectivity rather than an absolute value for each point, the entire dataset is scaled to ensure the full dynamic range is used over the dataset. This scaling is applied over an entire survey area to ensure dataset consistency (Collins et al. 2007). Collins et al. 2007 is available online here: http://www.fugrolads.com/datasheets/Hydro_Intl_LiDAR_Seabed_Classification.pdf
Processed Lidar Data
2011
Raster
Pixel
4508
13768
1
Universal Transverse Mercator
20
0.999600
-63.000000
0.000000
500000.000000
0.000000
Row and Column
3.306504
3.306504
meters
North American Datum of 1983
Geodetic Reference System 80
6378137.000000
298.257222
Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service (NOS), Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment (CCMA), Biogeography Branch
Contact info is for CCMA general reception. Please ask for the project manager of Seafloor Characterization of the U.S. Caribbean
mailing and physical address
1305 East West Highway, N-SCI-1, SSMC 4, 9th Floor
Silver Spring
MD
20910
USA
(301) 713-3028
(301) 713-4384
Contact info is for CCMA general reception. Please ask for the project manager of Seafloor Characterization of the U.S. Caribbean
Downloadable Data
These data were prepared by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, make any warranty, expressed or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed in this report, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference therein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. Any views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof. Although all data have been used by NOAA, no warranty, expressed or implied, is made by NOAA as to the accuracy of the data and/or related materials. The act of distribution shall not constitute any such warranty, and no responsibility is assumed by NOAA in the use of these data or related materials.
GeoTIFF
118
http://coastalscience.noaa.gov/datasets/ccma/biogeo/usvi_nps/2011/lidar/stt_stj_reflect_3m.zip
None
201102
20121220
20120126
NOAA/NOS/NCCOS/CCMA Biogeography Branch
Project Manager - Seafloor Characterization of the U.S. Caribbean
mailing and physical address
1305 East West Highway, N-SCI-1, SSMC 4, 9th Floor
Silver Spring
MD
20910
USA
(301) 713-3028
FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata
FGDC-STD-001-1998
Local Time
http://www.esri.com/metadata/esriprof80.html
ESRI Metadata Profile
http://www.esri.com/metadata/esriprof80.html
ESRI Metadata Profile
http://www.esri.com/metadata/esriprof80.html
ESRI Metadata Profile
http://www.esri.com/metadata/esriprof80.html
ESRI Metadata Profile
20120126072639
None
20110129
20110228
http://www.coris.noaa.gov/metadata/records/html/metadata_stt_stj_reflect_3m.html
6446